Scientist glassed woman in bus fight

Friday 11 December 2009 14:30 BST

A leading scientist has been jailed for 18 months after smashing a glass on a woman's head on a bus.

Dr Paul French, 30, broke a pint glass on the head of a passenger after subjecting her to a 10-minute tirade of vile abuse. French, a physics research fellow at University College London, turned on Lisa Hughes when she intervened to stop him verbally abusing another passenger.

Following the attack - which left Miss Hughes needing 13 stitches - the academic fled and was traced using his Oyster card record.

Southwark crown court heard French was still holding a glass from a pub when he boarded the number 9 bus from South Kensington at about 10pm on 22 May. When Miss Hughes, an executive assistant in her thirties, told him to leave another passenger alone he called her "a fat f***ing ugly bitch".

She eventually threw a small pot of lipgloss at French and he attacked her with the glass.

The court heard how the scientist smashed it into the back of the woman's head leaving her with a deep cut.

After his arrest, French claimed the victim had insulted him, and said he had been "comforting" the other woman. He also claimed Miss Hughes had thrown acid at him.

Jonathan Black, representing French, told the court his client came from a "dysfunctional" family background, and had achieved his career despite growing up in poverty and being seriously bullied at school.

The court also heard that French suffers from depression and phobic disorders. Judge Martin Beddoe said: "The attack was both mean and vicious."